Abstract

This article reports on problems in relation to political prisoners within contemporary Georgia. The issue of political prisoners in Georgia did not disappear following the 2003 'Rose Revolution'. After coming to power, President Saakashvili released those who had been considered as political prisoners under the rule of President Shevarnadze, but the policies of the new administration against the opposition forced civil society to raise the issue anew. The former Public Defender, Mr Sozar Subari, issued reports on the matter, naming a number of persons as political prisoners, and the US Department of State dedicated a chapter of its 2008 Human Rights Report: Georgia to this problem. A commission comprising representatives of Georgian NGOs, albeit under the aegis of the Georgian Conservative Party, sits regularly to discuss whether a convicted person is actually a political prisoner.